The way home

 

What's with the crazy weather? We had crazy rain for most of the day, and how about that wind? I don't think we had any issues at our house, but you can hear the house creaking in the wind, and those little bathroom vents flap like crazy!

The girls were thrilled to see me, and I managed to walk with each of them between the rain. I got lucky because this wasn't just rain - it was torrential rain driven by the wind. Fortunately, whenever the rain started, I was snuggled up with a quilt in my chair, trying to finish that darn book! I'm happy to report that I'm very close to the end. 

I really have to laugh when I read the flap inside the front cover, trying to remember why I thought it would be a good book. It's a FAST-PACED, philosophical book. OH - that should have been my first clue. Philosophical, NOT psychological! It's very philosophical, and sometimes, I think that half of it could be left out and still make as much sense as it does now. Oh well, not to worry - I'm almost done! 

I couldn't help myself, but I stated a REAL book yesterday as well, and I'm already hooked on the first page! Ruth Ware - her books are always good!

I did NOT get in a second walk yesterday, so my mileage was lower than normal yesterday. That leaves me with SEVEN miles to go to hit the Santa Monica Pier! Seven miles! I should be able to hit that today. How exciting to know that I've walked the entire length of Route 66. I'm pretty excited about that! 

I haven't unpacked my bag of finished stuff from the retreat. I was back to cutting fabric that I need for a quilt! NO time to waste!

This was me yesterday - cutting blue strips. 

Cutting blue strips

I started out with three boxes of blue scraps. How does one get THREE boxes? Anyway, I went through two of them and pulled out the dark blues. I further refined the fabric selections as I went through the pile, and what I didn't use went NEATLY back into one of the boxes. So here's the first of the three boxes, all neatly folded and ready for the next time I need some blues. 

One box of blue scraps neatly sorted

This morning, I went through the third box and pulled the dark blues. This is what I still need to go through in greater detail. Pick out the ones that I want and cut them. The pieces I cut are going in the third box, and I'll continue to sew them later this morning. It's Monday sewing after all!!!

Fabrics that need to be sorted through

That's a HUGE job to go through those three boxes, but I sure hope that there'll be only TWO boxes of blue scraps when I'm finished. But it also means that I should find another scrap project with blues because wouldn't it be nice if I only had ONE box of scraps? 

This quilt has a deadline, so I can't put it off. I MUST continue to cut and sew. Although I also have homework that needs to be prepped for this coming weekend, I still owe a couple of documents to my students to finish some projects. 

I just want to thank the ladies for the most amazing weekend. It was loads of fun, I learned lots about them, about me, and well - we just worked together as a team! They were great at keeping things tidy; I was great at starting and keeping the fire going! Great teamwork!

I did get a few more things finished yesterday morning before we left. The mini quilt is DONE!! The binding is made - I just need to find some backing material. 

The mini quilt top is done

So those blocks have been sitting for quite some time. And now it's done! I worked on a couple more things, and I realize that I didn't get pictures. And as mentioned, I haven't unpacked the bag yet, so I didn't catch those. You'll get to see that tomorrow. 

I also finished off these three eyeglass cases. Again, they were almost finished but just needed a bit of work. They've sat on the work tables for a while. Now they are also done, and each of them has a home. Thanks to Ronda for donating the kit to me! She got to pick one of the cases!

Three eyeglass cases

This should bring back some memories for people. It's Ronda's Dear Jane quilt that we worked on at The Hobby Horse years ago! I don't even want to say how many, but it's been a while. I quilted it before I got my long arm computer, and that was several years ago. All she had to do was hand stitch the binding in place. And now that's done!!!!

Ronda's Dear Jane quilt

Here's my retreat basket after I got home. It barely looks like anything came out of it! So much for running out of things to do. There's probably another five or more days of work in there! That hilarious! 

The retreat basket

We all did very well at taking one container of projects, and none of us ran out! Not even close. So after how many retreats? Close to 50 quilting retreats, and I've got the packing down! I did throw a few small things in the box for the next retreat! Why not - it was fun to work on some small things on Sunday morning!

Now it's back to reality! I've got seven presentations this week, which is a nice number. Then the number decreases over the next three weeks. Then some time off to regroup, do some major planning for next year, and then it'll be off again! 

If you're interested in coloring embroidery designs with InkTense pencils, you might want to check out this free class offered by Michael's and taught by Karen Charles. I LOVE Karen - she's so creative, and well, I'm not sure I'm going to do the class, but I'm going to watch Karen. Oh, silly me - of course, I'm going to do the class. 

The week's schedule is set, and it's very doable, so that's a nice feeling. I've got a few quilts to quilt and stuff to sew. As my Dad says, I'll never be bored! 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!